Slovakia’s Petra Vlhová wins giant slalom at World Championships

Bratislava, Slovakia – Slovak skier Petra Vlhová made history yesterday after winning the women’s giant slalom at the Alpine skiing World Championships in Åre, Sweden. A stunning victory for the young skier, and beautiful Valentine’s gift for the whole country.

The suspense was complete as Vlhová only finished second after the first round behind 2010 Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg from Germany, who eventually finished second and took home the silver medal, while Mikaela Shiffrin from the U.S. completed the podium at the third place.

Despite crashing into a gate between the second and third checkpoints, Petra Vlhová stunned her main competitors, finishing 0.14 seconds ahead of Viktoria Rebensburg and 0.38 seconds ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin, who had already won the super-G on the opening day of the world championships.

“We’re a small team from a small country, I’m so proud that I could win the gold for Slovakia”, Petra Vlhová, who comes from Liptovský Mikuláš, a small town in Slovakia’s mountainous north, told reporters after winning the giant slalom, one of the most prestigious disciplines of the competition. “Thank you Slovakia for the support… WE ARE THE WORLD’S CHAMPIONS!!!”, she wrote on her Facebook page soon after.

Last week, Vlhová had already won the silver medal in the women’s alpine combined.

The young 23-years-old skier debuted her professional career seven years ago, winning gold medal at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics and attending the 2014 Winter Olympics for Slovakia.

Next stop in her dazzling career? The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where a whole country will be rooting for her success.